


Of Boredom, Space Travel, and Things

by chellefic



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-11
Updated: 2005-07-11
Packaged: 2017-10-31 15:59:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chellefic/pseuds/chellefic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John, Rodney and a long boring trip in a shuttle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Boredom, Space Travel, and Things

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Rachel Sabotini for the criticism and Grrrl for the encouragement.

No one ever mentioned how incredibly dull space travel could be. It sounded exotic and exciting, traveling between the stars, exploring the unknown, except for the fact that there wasn't actually anything between the stars or, in this case, planets.

Rodney turned to say as much to Major Sheppard and stopped. The major had the most unusual ears. They angled away from his face in a manner Rodney refused to think of as elvish. When they had first met Rodney had taken great pleasure in those ears. They were an imperfection marking the handsome, gifted and outrageously charming major as human after all.

The ears weren’t really an imperfection, though, any more than the major's not-quite-symmetrical nose. They were endearing, their improbability adding to the major's overall appeal.

"Something wrong?" John asked from the pilot's seat.

"No, why?"

"You've been staring at the side of my head for the last five minutes."

"You have very unusual ears."

"Is that a compliment?" John asked with a sideways glance.

"It could be taken as one," Rodney admitted with a shrug.

John gave him a smug grin. "Then that's how I'll take it. You're really bored, aren't you?"

"How'd you guess?" At least on the way out he'd had the anomalous energy readings to ponder, but a closer look had revealed that the readings were caused by a massive volcano on the planet's surface. The planet itself was uninhabitable. The trip was a waste, without even decent scenery to brighten it, except for the major's ears. Now it was back to the Stargate, which was in orbit around yet another planet whose inhabitants had barely discovered agriculture.

"We could play 'I Spy,'" John suggested.

"What a great idea. Let me see, what do I spy? I spy with my little eye something… black."

"My hair."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Outwitted again."

John grinned at him. "My turn. I spy with my little eye something blue."

"My shirt."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean no, it's not your shirt."

Rodney looked around the cockpit, searching for something blue. Nearly everything was white or light grey, another testament to the Ancients' fear of color. "There is nothing blue here."

"Sure there is." John sounded both teasing and pleased with himself.

"What?"

"Your eyes."

Rodney was not going to think about the fact that the major was thinking about his eyes. That way lay madness. "That's cheating. I can't see my eyes."

"You know what color they are."

"Fine. You win."

"Thank you."

Rodney chose to ignore John's pleased grin in favor of looking out the jumper window. They were in space. There had to be something interesting to look at, or perhaps meditative and soothing. Being alone on a jumper with the major was enough to make anyone need soothing. Rodney stared at the emptiness in front of them. He lasted less than five minutes. "I spy with my little eye something black."

"My boots," John answered.

"I can't see your boots from here."

"But you know what color they are."

Rodney glared at him in exasperation.

John grinned--again. "Okay, okay, it's space."

"No."

"My pants."

"You really think it's all about you, don't you?"

"You mean it isn't?" John asked.

"Guess again."

"The control panel."

"No."

"My jacket."

"No."

"The flight controls."

"No."

John looked around the room, but apparently couldn't find anything since his next words were, "Your boots."

"No."

"There isn't anything black left," John protested. He was quiet for a moment. "My pupils."

"No."

"Your pupils."

"No."

"Okay, I give up."

Rodney grinned smugly, pleased that he'd managed to fool John. "The hair on the back of your hands."

"You notice my hands. I’m touched." A corner of John's mouth was turned up in a small, lopsided smile, a pleased lopsided smile, as if he really did like the idea that Rodney noticed his hands.

Rodney wasn’t going to think about that either. "If you can choose my eyes, I can choose your hands."

"You didn't choose my hands. You chose the hair on the back of my hands."

"I can't very well say, 'I spy with my little eye something flesh-colored.'"

"Why not?"

Rodney ignored him. "It's your turn."

"I spy with my little eye something flesh-colored."

Rodney wasn't surprised. "Your hands."

"Nope."

"My hands."

"Nope."

"My arms." Rodney had taken off his jacket and was wearing just his blue t-shirt.

"No."

"My face."

"Close," John said.

"My neck."

"Not quite."

"My ears."

John shook his head. "Sorry."

Rodney sighed and thought for a moment. "My nose."

"Yup."

"And you claim I'm weird."

"My choosing your nose is no weirder than you choosing the hair on my hands."

"I didn't say it was. I just said you were weird," Rodney pointed out.

"So are you."

"I never denied it."

John smiled at him. "That’s why we get along so well."

"Our shared weirdness."

"Exactly."

John's smile was warm, maybe even affectionate. Rodney looked out the window. He wasn't John; he was the major, and Rodney wasn't going to let himself forget that. He rose from his seat. "I think I'll take a nap."

John's smile disappeared. He looked hurt. "Yeah, okay."

"I can keep you company, if you want, " Rodney offered, because he couldn’t ignore that look.

"I'm a big boy. I can entertain myself."

"I can fly if you--"

"It's fine, Rodney. Go sleep."

"Right, well, I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Sleep well."

Feeling vaguely unsettled, Rodney left the cockpit. Pulling a couple of blankets from storage, he settled in on the bench to sleep.

***

Surprisingly, Rodney actually did nap, which explained why he was now lying in bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the barely perceptible hum of his digital clock.

He should get up and work, but he'd gone to bed in the first place because he couldn't focus. He kept seeing John's smile and thinking about the fact that John, that the major, had chosen his eyes. John had only selected them because it was something Rodney wouldn't guess. Rodney knew that. John wasn't an infatuated teenager, after all. Neither of them were.

Rodney was an infatuated adult.

There was a knock on his door and Rodney rose to answer it without bothering to dress. Middle of the night crises were standard operating procedure on Atlantis and at this point at least half of the crew had seen him in his boxers.

The major was on the other side of the door, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed. "Can I come in?"

Rodney didn't bother pointing out that John should have said may. He simply stepped back. John moved past him and then turned to look at Rodney as the door slid shut. His gaze was intent, focused, and Rodney was painfully aware that he was wearing only his boxers. "Is something wrong, Major?"

"That's what I want to know. You ran away again."

"Excuse me?"

"This afternoon. In the jumper."

John was damned perceptive, but Rodney wasn't about to admit that. "How could I run away on the jumper? There isn't anywhere to run to."

"Whenever we're having fun together, you suddenly think up something you have to do somewhere else."

"I have a lot to do."

"You took a nap."

"Sleep is important." Rodney crossed his arms in front of his chest, partially to emphasize his point, but mostly to cover himself.

"I'll stop," John said, "We need to be able to work together, so if it's a problem, just say so and I'll stop."

Rodney frowned. "Stop what?"

"You haven't noticed?" John sounded genuinely surprised. "The way you kept running away, I thought--"

"Noticed what?" Rodney asked, impatient and wanting to know what it was he wasn't noticing.

"The flirting."

Flirting. John, the major, had just admitted to flirting with him. Rodney struggled to make sense of that when a large part of him was jumping up and down. So much for not being an infatuated teenager. Like any infatuated teenager, Rodney played it cool. "Oh, that."

"So you did notice."

"Sort of. I wasn't sure. I thought I was imagining it."

"Ah, well." John looked down at his feet. "I'll stop."

"Okay," Rodney said, still trying to process the idea that John had been flirting with him. And how was he supposed to think of John as the major when John admitted to flirting?

John started toward the door. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

He had taken three steps before Rodney realized that he was leaving. "I wasn't asleep."

John stopped and looked back at him.

"I…" Rodney took a step forward, toward John. "I was thinking."

"You're always thinking."

"About you," Rodney admitted, because if John was willing to admit to flirting then Rodney should admit something too. It was only fair. "I was thinking about you."

"You were?" John smiled, his smile a lot like the one that had driven Rodney from the cockpit that afternoon. This time he took a step closer to John. "What were you thinking about?" John asked.

"That I need to stop feeling this way."

"What way?"

Even Rodney could discern the hopeful note in John's voice. It emboldened him. "Like I want to flirt with you."

"Is that all you want to do?" John's eyes were locked on his and Rodney sucked in a breath. Rodney was pretty certain that he would never be able to flirt as well as John did.

"No." Not at all sure where the courage came from, he lifted a hand and touched John's cheek. "That's not all."

John moved a half step closer and they were kissing. Tentative kisses, but tentative was okay. In fact, he liked tentative, especially when tentative meant that John's lips yielded to his. Then John wrapped his arms around Rodney's shoulders and tentative was left behind, replaced by sensual.

By the time sensual gave way to passionate, Rodney's arms were around John's waist, and he could feel John's erection against his.

"Do you want to stop?" John whispered.

Rodney thought about that for all of half a second. "No."

"Good." John kissed him again and Rodney groaned. He was kissing John. John was kissing him. John was hard and they were pressed together. It was everything he had never let himself think about, but couldn't stop himself from wanting.

When his hands slid beneath John's shirt, John made a soft sound. The feel of muscle, and bone, and smooth skin beneath his hands was better than, well, just about anything Rodney could imagine and he let his hands roam freely over John's back and sides.

John was touching him, too. His touch was firm and arousing, very arousing. Rodney groaned and rested his forehead on John's shoulder.

"You okay?" John stroked his back.

"Tell me we're not going to stop."

"We won't stop," John said gently, still stroking. "Not until we're done."

Rodney didn’t like the sound of the word done. "Done," he echoed.

"Sated and sticky." John's hands slid from Rodney's back to his sides.

"Sated is good," Rodney conceded, lifting his head from John's shoulder.

John kissed him. "So is sticky."

"I'm okay with sticky."

John smiled. "Good."

"I didn't think you were."

The corners of John's lips turned downward. "You didn't think I liked getting sticky?"

"I didn't think you would like getting sticky with me." Rodney wasn't entirely sure why he was telling John this when they could be getting sticky instead.

"Why wouldn't I want to get sticky with you?" John's hands were still moving over Rodney's skin, making Rodney's doubts seem silly, or at least unimportant.

"Aside from the whole penis thing?"

John nodded. "Aside from that."

"Hard as it is to believe, there are a lot of people who don't want to get sticky with me."

"There are a whole lot of people who don't want to get sticky with me, either."

Rodney shook his head. "No, there isn't. Those are just the people who don't stand a chance of getting sticky with you."

"Rodney," John said gently, "why are we talking about this?"

"I have no idea." Letting go of John, Rodney walked backward until he reached his bed. Then he sat on the end of it.

John squatted in front of him, one hand on Rodney's knee. "I want you. Tonight, and probably for a whole lot of nights after that. If that isn't--"

"I want you. I really want you," Rodney said, cutting him off. He raised his eyes from the floor to John's face. "I just… I'm not good at this, at relationships."

"I noticed."

"And yet you're still here."

"Exactly."

"Which makes you either nuts or brave."

John squeezed his leg. "I prefer to think of myself as perceptive."

"Perceptive?" Rodney asked, finding himself starting to smile.

"I am very perceptive. Right now I perceive that you have a burning need for me to move closer."

"Are you sure that's my burning need and not yours?"

"Definitely yours." John edged closer, his hand sliding up Rodney's bare thigh. John placed his other hand on the center of Rodney's chest, casually moving his thumb back and forth.

Rodney swallowed. "What else do I need?"

"You need me to do this." John leaned in and covered one of Rodney's nipples with his mouth, sucking gently.

Rodney closed his eyes and buried his hand in John's hair. Letting his lips trail across Rodney's skin, John shifted to the other side. Sweet, sweet suction, and Rodney opened his eyes. It really was John caressing him.

"I need you to be naked," Rodney said, unsurprised at how exposed he sounded; his voice simply matched the feeling.

John smiled up at him. "Is it a burning need?"

"Incendiary."

"That's something which starts fires, not something which is burning."

"Trust me, if you take off your clothes there will be all kinds of burning."

"And stickiness?'

"Lots of stickiness," Rodney promised, leaning down to kiss him, trying to show John just how deep his desire went. It must have worked because John stood and pulled his t-shirt off. John had a nice chest, all muscles and hair, and his shoulders somehow looked broader bare than they did when he was dressed. Solid curving biceps led to strong, familiar forearms. Rodney wanted to see all of him. "Jeans, too."

John kicked off his sneakers and opened his jeans. He bent forward as he pushed them down, exposing the long line of his back to Rodney's gaze.

Then he was standing in front of Rodney, completely naked, all long, lean muscles that came from what he did, from who he was, not from a gym. Rodney had to reach out, had to run his hand up John's side and then across his chest, fingers brushing a nipple, feeling it harden in response.

Rodney was so hard that his cock was sticking out of the opening in his boxers.

Taking a step closer, John bent down to kiss him. "You're overdressed." At the same time he spoke, John curled his fingers around the exposed part of Rodney's cock.

"Is that encouragement?" Rodney asked with a gasp.

"Yes."

Lying back on the bed, Rodney lifted his hips and pushed at his boxers.

"Just a sec," John said, using both hands to maneuver Rodney's cock back into his boxers. Then he took hold of Rodney's waistband and pulled them down.

He was naked with John, who was standing over him, staring at his cock. "John?"

"Yeah?" John's eyes shifted to his face.

"Are you going to join me?"

"Sure."

Rodney slid backward until his head was on the pillow. John crawled up the bed, stretching out over him. "Hi."

"Hi." Reaching up, Rodney moved his fingers over John's cheek, feeling the rasp of whiskers. Next, he traced the edges of John's ear with his fingertips.

"Were you staring at my ear in the jumper?"

"Of course not. Why would I stare at your ear?"

"For the same reason I stare at your nose."

Rodney pushed at his nose with his fingers and John laughed. "You don't really stare at my nose," Rodney said.

John grinned.

"Why would you?"

"For the same reason you stare at my ears."

"I do not stare at your ears."

"If you say so."

"I was bored."

John laughed again and the vibrations in his chest felt good against Rodney's. Rodney decided John didn't laugh enough. He would have to find a way to make John laugh more--later. Rolling them so John was on his back, Rodney kissed him as deeply and thoroughly as he knew how. When John was panting with arousal, he kissed his way to John's ear and captured the lobe with his lips, sucking lightly.

John groaned and Rodney sucked harder before letting go and outlining it with the tip of his tongue.

"I knew you had an ear thing." John sounded breathless and Rodney thought that perhaps John had an ear thing too.

"Guys with nose things shouldn’t criticize," Rodney whispered.

"True. Think maybe we could develop a penis thing?"

Rodney tried to look thoughtful, but was sure his smile was getting in the way. "That could probably be arranged."

"Good, because I have a bit of an oral fixation and that just doesn't work with noses."

Rodney laughed. He stopped when John pulled him in for another kiss. "So," he asked when John finally released him, "is this oral thing strictly giving, or does it include receiving?"

"Receiving is good. Receiving is very--" Rodney nibbled lightly on the side of John's neck and John sucked in a breath. "Good."

Smiling into John's skin, Rodney began to kiss and nibble his way upward. John tilted his head back, clearly happy with receiving. Rodney was pretty happy with giving.

Reaching John's other ear he once again sucked on the lobe. John moaned softly. "Looks like I'm not the only one with an ear thing," Rodney whispered, his lips brushing John's ear as he spoke.

"Guess not."

"Just so we're clear, I do not have a nose thing."

John laughed again, and Rodney smiled, before reaching out with his tongue to caress John's ear.

Then he kissed his way back to John's mouth and from there down his neck to his collarbone. He paused in his kissing to run a hand through the hair on John's chest. John had just the right amount, enough hair that it was soft to the touch, but not so much that he looked like a wild animal. Hair was best in moderation.

There were nipples hiding in the hair. Brown nipples with tiny points in the center. Rodney touched one of the points with the tip of his tongue. Then he licked it a bit, and when it began to harden he closed his lips around it, sucking. John arched, his hand finding its way to Rodney's hair.

Rodney smiled to himself and wondered what John would do when he got a little further down.

He took his time getting there, using his hands to caress John's sides and arms and pretty much anything else within reach while he worked his way lower. John's stomach was softer than it looked. Rodney added it to his list of endearing imperfections, and lingered over it, caressing John's warm, smooth skin with his mouth and hands.

Sharp hip bones required that he brush his thumbs over them. He smiled as he stroked. John smiled back at him, all warm affection, this time with desire mixed in. Rodney was never going to run from that smile again.

"Come here," John said, reaching for him.

Rodney shook his head. "I'm not done being orally fixated."

"If we were kissing, we could be orally fixated together."

John's cock was lying almost flat against his stomach, and Rodney kissed the spot just beneath the head. John's breath caught and Rodney grinned up at him. "Kissing later, blow-job now."

"Okay."

Rodney chuckled and John smiled at him again. It took a moment before Rodney could look away, could look down at John's lovely cock. It was long and slender, with a slight curve to the left. Rodney stroked it, rubbing the underside with the pad of his thumb. John made a quiet appreciative noise so Rodney did it again before curling his hand around the base and holding it upright.

"I spy with my little eye," he said quietly, "something suckable."

"My nipples."

Rodney shook his head. "Nope, although they are pretty suckable."

"Fingers."

"No, but that’s not a bad idea."

"Toes."

"Kinky, but no."

"Toes aren't kinky."

Rodney squeezed John's cock gently. "Guess again."

Amused affection in his eyes and a mischievous grin on his lips, John said, "Balls."

Rodney cupped them in his hand, enjoying the combination of heat and softness. "A definite possibility, but, alas, no."

"Cock."

Rodney glanced down at his own cock. "Maybe later."

"My cock."

Rodney stroked the object in question slowly. "You win."

"About damn time."

"It's not my fault you're a terrible guesser." Before John could answer, Rodney leaned down and took the head into his mouth. He sucked lightly, rubbing the slit with his tongue, tasting salt and desire and John.

"I’m not," John panted, "a terrible guesser."

Rodney's only reply was too suck a little harder and slide a little lower. He sucked and slid until the head of John's cock hit the back of his throat and then he reversed direction, still sucking.

He was sucking the major's cock.

Sucking the major's cock was both interesting and soothing, in a really, really arousing kind of way. And the scenery was pretty good too. Rodney settled happily into the rhythm of it, enjoying the feel of John's cock as it moved over his lips and tongue, warm and solid, sending pleasure from his mouth to his groin, where it coiled and settled.

When John began lifting his hips, Rodney backed off a bit and let him push his cock in and out of Rodney's mouth.

When John started making desperate whimpering sounds, his thrusts growing careless, Rodney pushed his hips to the mattress and held them there while he brought John off with his lips and tongue, swallowing when John filled his mouth with his fluid.

Rodney lifted his head, and John smiled at him, pressing his hand to the side of Rodney's face and caressing Rodney's cheek with his thumb. "I spy something amazing." He paused, then added, "And sexy."

"My mouth."

"Close."

Rodney tried to puzzle it out, but his mind was working a little slowly. John used the hand on his cheek, to urge him closer and Rodney stretched out over him.

"It's you," John whispered, guiding him into a kiss. "And now," John added between small, generous kisses, "I get to show you how orally fixated I am."

"Just remember, no nose."

Grinning, John flipped him onto his back. "I like your nose."

"But not in conjunction with your oral fixation."

"Who says words like conjunction during sex?"

"Me."

"Weirdo." John playfully nipped his nose. Then he nodded. "Conjunction."

Rodney laughed, stopping when John's mouth closed around his earlobe, sucking lightly, making Rodney gasp as the pulling went straight to his cock.

"You know," John said quietly, "I think I might be developing an ear thing."

"What about a penis thing?"

John's hand closed around his cock, causing Rodney to lift his hips in reaction. "I've definitely got one of those."

"Good," Rodney panted as John stroked him, long and slow. "That's good."

"Glad you approve." John went back to demonstrating his oral fixation, his mouth moving over Rodney's skin, caressing his neck and chest, pulling playfully on Rodney's nipples. He kept his hand on Rodney's cock the entire time, giving it an odd stroke here and there, until Rodney said "please."

Then John's mouth closed around his cock, and Rodney decided that space travel was the coolest thing ever.


End file.
